Go Ahead, Complicate My Day
by KayKayeLLe
Summary: END! TRILOGY OF RUTHIE PREGNANT STORIES. Ten years later, problems that were not adressed when they needed to be come back to haunt Mary.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing, but it is impolite and down right evil to steal anything that has come out of my head. 7th Heaven and anything regarding it belongs to Aaron Spelling, Paramount, and Brenda and Co. However, Natalie is mine. Not that you could do a lot with her, but you are not allowed to take her.

A/N: This is the last story in the "Ruthie pregnant at 12, goes and lives with married Mary and Wilson" trilogy. You all asked for it, so here it is. Don't have the foggiest idea what I am talking about? Go and read "**The End of the Beginning**" and "**Time to Flee the Nest**" by myself by clicking on my pen name (KayKayeLLe).

Ten years later, the doorbell rings at the West home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Billy West, 17 years of age, got up from his chemistry homework to answer the door. When he opened it, a young girl somewhere in her twenties stared back at him. She appeared disheveled and worn, obviously inwardly aged well beyond her actual years. 

"Is your mother home?" the woman asked, forcing the words out rather than letting them flow freely.

"No, she's not. She's at a PTA meeting but she should be home soon." Billy stared back at the girl. There was something about her that reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Do I know you?"

"No, not really."

From the staircase, Wilson saw his son standing at the door talking to someone. He continued his descent to the first floor until he could see the face of the person outside. When he saw her, he immediately froze.

Billy heard his father on the stairs and called out to him. "Dad, uh, could you come here? There's someone here to see Mom."

Wilson quickly composed himself and walked down the stairs and to the door. He looked back at the woman and said nothing to her, but turned to his son. "Go upstairs and finish your homework and make sure you and your sister stay up there."

"Why?" Billy asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just have to talk to her," he said pointing in the young girl's direction.

"And she would be…?"

"Don't pry," Wilson reprimanded him. "Just go upstairs and put your sister to bed."

"Do I have to?" he complained. "You know she won't go to sleep unless Mom tucks her in."

"Yes you have to. Now please go." 

Billy stared back at the girl one more time before going upstairs. Wilson then focused his attention on the young girl. 

He walked over to the couch and motioned for her to follow. "Please sit down Ruthie."

She did as he told her, but did not speak. They sat there for minutes in silence, each of them darting their eyes around the room.

Wilson looked at his watch. "Mary should be home any minute."

Ruthie nodded. "This is a really nice place you've got here," she commented, trying to keep the conversation as light as possible.

"I've gotten promoted, twice in fact."

Ruthie nodded once more as they both heard the sound of the garage door rising. Wilson didn't know whether to go and greet his wife and try to warn her, or stay next to Ruthie. In a split second decision, he chose the latter.

Mary walked into the room from the kitchen, purse in hand and all smiles. When she laid eyes on Ruthie, however, she dropped her purse to the ground with a dull thud. 

"Ruthie?" she asked with a quavering voice.

"Hey sis," Ruthie said standing and walking toward Mary.

Mary embraced Ruthie just as she regretted not having a chance to do before Ruthie left. When they pulled away, Mary stared at Ruthie questioningly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Could we start with an easier question?" Ruthie asked.

"OK, how are you?" Mary said sitting on the couch next to Wilson and clutching his hand firmly.

"I could be better. How are you guys?"

"I was OK until I saw you," Mary commented. "Now I'm scared."

"Why? I'm not going to hurt you."

Mary bit her lip. _You already have, you're here in my home._

"I don't mean to be rude Ruthie, but what are you doing here?" Wilson asked.

"I…uh…I…" she stammered. 

"Do you need our help with something? Are you OK?" he said.

"Yeah, I think so."

"What do you mean you think so?" Mary said.

"I just don't want you to both to be mad at me."

"Why, what did you do?"

"It's not what I did, but what I might do." Ruthie said.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked slowly. She had a very bad feeling about this, but she wasn't sure if it was just the mere presence of Ruthie that made her nervous, or if it was something bigger than that.

"I…I'm still with Peter you know," she began, "and we were thinking…"

"Yes?" Wilson said.

"We were thinking about taking Natalie. Well, not really taking her, as in taking her from away from you, but raising her ourselves."

Mary felt faint. Her heart began to race, sweat formed on her forehead, and her hand went limp in Wilson's. Wilson noticed this, and knowing that Mary was in no position to answer, he did so for her.

"Well, you know if you want legal custody over her you can get it," he said earnestly.

"I know," Ruthie responded quietly. She looked over at Mary, and she could tell she was still in a state of shock. "You know, maybe I shouldn't have come here."

"She thinks we're her parents…you can't do that to a child. She's ten Ruthie, she'll understand now," Mary blurted out.

"I figured that," Ruthie said.

"I don't know what to say to you," Mary mumbled, her eyes welling up with tears.

"OK. I'll give you guys some time. I just thought I should tell you so that you could start thinking about it."

Wilson looked at Ruthie in disbelief. "Are you married?"

"No."

"Engaged?"

"Almost."

Wilson sighed heavily. This wasn't right and he sensed it as well as Mary did. "I'll show you out."

Wilson stood up and walked Ruthie to the door. 

"I'll be in touch," Ruthie said right before she left.

Wilson plastered on a smile to his best ability, but his heart was breaking. Ruthie walked out the door and he closed it behind her, leaning his forehead against it as he flipped the deadbolt. He felt a hand on his back and he turned around to Mary. He tried to put his arms around her, but she moved away from him.

"I'm going to bed," she said morosely. "I don't want the kids to know something is up."

Wilson nodded, forlorn, and followed her with his eyes as she went silently up the steps. He heard the sound of the door closing ever so softly and another one opening from the other end of the hall. Wilson prayed it wasn't Natalie, but alas it was. He watched her, as he remained stationary downstairs, walk over to the bedroom he and Mary shared and knock gently at the door.

"Mommy," she said meekly.

Wilson saw Mary open the door, wrap her arm around Natalie's shoulders, and then take the ten year old girl into the bedroom with her.

"Damn it all," Wilson muttered under his breath.

So, what do you all think? Please let me know. This one is going to be the hardest for me to right, seeing I have negative motivation for it, so your reviews will really make a difference. If I get an overwhelming response, it might just make me spew out a few more chapters. 

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Wilson walked upstairs to the bedroom and knocked gently at the door before entering. He found Mary on the bed with Natalie curled up watching a re-run of their daughter's favorite cartoon program. Mary looked up at him, not budging Natalie who was nearly asleep in her arms, and stared deep into Wilson's eyes. He could plainly see that she was in the most pain he had seen her in years. He walked closer to the bed and Natalie's head turned to face him.

"Hi Dad," she said sweetly. 

"Hey Nat, why don't you let Mom put you to bed. It's just about your bed time."

"Do I have to?" she asked batting her eyes. "It's just getting to the good part."

Usually, this would have worked on Wilson, and he would easily have granted her 10 more minutes, but not tonight. Tonight he really needed to speak with his wife. Wilson turned and looked at the television screen.

"How many times have you seen this one? Even I can recite the lines."

She pouted slightly. "Ok, OK, I'm going- but only if Mommy tucks me in."

"Ok, come on," Mary said as she slid off the bed. 

She and Natalie left and Wilson sat down on the bed. He put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Five minutes later, Mary walked back in the room with her eyes full of tears. Wilson looked up when he heard Mary enter the room.

"Don't look at me like that," Mary warned Wilson. "You're going to make me loose it and I don't have time to loose it."

"What do you mean you don't have time? You have all night."

Mary rolled her eyes at him. "Do me a favor and go say good night to your son while I wash up? I'm really tired."

Wilson sighed, silently obliging. Inside, however, Wilson knew that this thing with Mary was no good at all. She only would say "your son" in reference to Billy when he did something bad. When he got into a fistfight at school a few years ago she had used "your son". When he stole Mary's keys and scratched her car up with them, again he was "your son". But this time, Wilson knew that this was not what Mary meant. Billy was and always will be Wilson's son, and no matter how hard she tried he will never truly be hers. The same is true about Natalie. Custody or no custody does not change cold, hard facts. 

Wilson reentered the room after he saw Billy and found that Mary was not in sight. He could hear the water running, and he knew instantaneously that she was in the bathroom washing her face. He walked over and stood in the doorframe of the master bathroom. Wilson looked into the mirror, watching Mary carefully as she rubbed the washcloth over her face gently.  She noticed his presence and, seeing that he was not intending on leaving, turned around.

"Do you have to watch me?"

"No, I don't have to but-"

"Then please just go to bed," she snapped back.

Wilson smiled at her amicably and left to get ready for bed. Minutes later, Mary finished washing her face, brushed her teeth, and crawled under the cold bed sheets. She reached up, clicking off the light, before settling in for a long nights sleep. Wilson reached up and turned the lights back on, but Mary did not budge. 

"Let's talk."

"I just want to go to sleep," she said on the verge of tears. "Please go to sleep."

Wilson looked at her slightly bemused. "Are you mad at me?"

Mary rolled over to Wilson's side of the bed putting a hand on his chest. "I'm not mad a you, and I'm sorry if I made you feel as if I was. I just don't want to talk to you right now."

"If that's what you want," Wilson said defeated. "But we're going to have to talk eventually."

"I know," Mary responded quietly.

Wilson kissed Mary's lips, hoping to take some of the pain away from her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." 

The next day, Natalie and Billy went to school as usual. Wilson had the week off, so he stayed home with Mary. He followed her around for hours, watching her clean the house and do busy work to avoid talking with Wilson. She kept telling him that they would discuss it later and no, she did not need his help with anything. 

As Mary vacuumed the bedroom, Wilson devised a plan. He went into the room as she cleaned. Once she finished and turned to leave, Wilson locked his arms around Mary's waist so that she couldn't get away. 

"You know," she said in an aggravated tone, "you're really starting to bug me."

Before Wilson had a chance to defend himself, the phone rang. 

"I'll get it," Mary said. She unclasped Wilson's hand and went to the phone. Once the conversation began, Mary's mood changed. She looked strange to Wilson, almost as if she was going to cry. Mary barely spoke to the person on the other, only saying "yes" occasionally and "OK' before she hung up. Mary put down the phone and turned to Wilson. She didn't need to say a word to him; Wilson instinctively went over and hugged Mary. She buried her head into his chest and began to snivel like she was crying.

"Now we can talk," she said without lifting her head.

Wilson sat down on the bed and took Mary with him. "Who was on the phone?"

"Some social worker type of person. She wants to meet with us today at 12:30. I told her we would go."

"And what is going to happen at this meeting?"

Mary sighed and leaned her head on Wilson's shoulder. "We're going to discuss giving away our daughter."

Tears ran down Mary's face as Wilson squeezed Mary tightly. He didn't know what to say to make things better, and worse than that, he knew deep down that no matter what he did it wouldn't fix things. He knew last night when they talked to Ruthie that she was going to take Natalie from them, whether she deserved to have her or not.

"We never should have taken her. I feel so stupid."

"We did the right thing. Ruthie left and we were two married and capable blood relatives. There was no reason to make her go through foster care or anything like that. Anyone else would have done the same thing."

Mary finally broke down and full out cried. She knew that Wilson was right, but it didn't take away her guilt. "I wish she was mine. I've always wished she was mine. Lucy thought that she was pregnant, Ruthie was pregnant…I wanted to have a child so desperately. But then we took in Ruthie and got Natalie, so the void was sort of filled. She called me Mommy and I referred to her as my daughter. It was the next best thing, you know? But still, it hurt to have her. Just like it hurts to have Billy. I love Billy with all of my heart, and I love Nat, but they're not mine. I had no part in creating them." Mary paused for a second and wiped her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe it's just my biological clock ticking."

"Well, do you want to-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Mary looked at her watch. "We have to be there in less than 45 minutes. I'm going to finish cleaning up, then I'll get ready and we'll go. OK?"

"OK, but one thing Mare. We are going to fight to keep her, aren't we?"

"Yes," she answered plainly. No matter what anyone said, she had raised Natalie. No one deserved to take her away. She had overcome too much to have her life snatched away. Not now, not ever.

A/N: Well, thanks for the overwhelming response. A couple of you asked about the rest of the family. Short answer, both of the main characters are in the same mindset now that they were in at the end of the last story. I don't want to give too much away, because that's part of the rest of the surprise. You'll just have to wait and see. 

Thanks for enjoying everything that I write and for liking this little trilogy so much. I never thought that everyone would be so enthralled with it. It really means a lot to me.

Please continue to review! You're kind words and comments make me smile.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, I have to say that I do not know anything about adoptions or custody agreements in the state of Florida or anywhere else for that matter. With that said, please read on.

At the West home, something was definitely up. The kids had gotten home from school on that Tuesday afternoon half an hour ago, and Mary and Wilson had been home from their meeting with the social worker an hour ago. As soon as they walked in the house, Mary announced that she needed to be alone and locked herself in the bedroom. Wilson tried and tried to get her to let him in, but she refused. He screamed something at her through the door about how her being this stubborn was making everything worse; extending the period that Mary would give the cold shoulder.

When Natalie and Billy arrived home that afternoon, the atmosphere in the house was different. Natalie was too young to realize what was going on, but Billy picked up on it fairly quickly. Their parents were having a fight, or were at least at odds with one another. If Billy had to guess, their conflict probably had something to do with that woman at the door last night. She seemed oddly familiar to him. Natalie didn't recognize it because they barely fought. The last fight they had had was over something about Mary's thirtieth birthday last year. It wasn't that big of a deal, so the kids didn't really know what was going on.

"Dad, why won't Mom come out of the bedroom?" Natalie asked as she rummaged through her backpack. 

"Your mother just needs to be alone right now," Wilson answered.

"What did you guys do today?" Billy asked, not coming clean with what he had already figured out.

"We ran a few errands and sat around, nothing important."

Billy looked up at his father and stared right through the façade he had put up. "You two had a fight, didn't you?"

"No they didn't," Natalie said seriously to her big brother. "Mom and dad don't fight. They love each other."

"Just because two people love each other doesn't mean that they can't fight," Billy told her.

Wilson ducked out of the room, up the staircase, and into the bedroom. Miraculously, the door had been unlocked. Mary was sitting on the bed watching an afternoon talk show on television. Mary stared blankly at the screen. Wilson laughed at her. He knew for a fact that Mary hated the host of that particular show with a passion; for whatever reason she disagreed with everything that woman stood for.

"Did you come in here just to mock me, or are you going to make me speak to you?"

"I just came up here to give you a hug- a nonverbal hug."

"Why?" Mary questioned.

"Because I love you with everything I had and it took our children remind me of that."

Wilson approached Mary but she turned away from him. "They are not our children. It's your son and our niece. And in a few days, Natalie wont even be in the equation. Subtract a daughter, add one big whole in my heart."

Wilson wrapped his arms around Mary and she finally let him embrace her. "Does this help at all?"

"No, but it doesn't hurt either."

Their attempt at salvation was cut short. There was a knock at the door and Billy stepped into the room.

"I don't think asking you guys what is going on here is out of line, is it? I know, me son, you parents, but what I just heard…"

Mary closed her eyes tightly and buried her head into Wilson's chest. Yet another mistake, Billy overheard them. Before Wilson or Mary had a chance to react to each other, the telephone rang. It was as if the sound paralyzed them all, the three stood perfectly still. Natalie's voice rang throughout the house, startling them just as quickly as the phone-paralysis had been brought about.

"Can I go over to Lisa's house? I barely have any homework," she yelled up the stairs.

Wilson walked to the top of the stairs. "Be home before dinner," he said loudly.

Wilson went back into the bedroom and to the exact same spot he had occupied before. They waited until they heard Natalie slam the front door on her way out to her friend's house before speaking again.

"What is going on with Nat? Is something wrong with her?"

Mary sighed heavily and looked up at Wilson. "Should we tell him?"

Wilson put his hand on Mary's cheek and rubbed his thumb over her soft skin. He knew how much she was hurting; he could feel it just being in the room with her. "Why not? He's going to find out eventually."

Mary grabbed Wilson's hand and Billy's. "Sit down," she instructed, "both of you."

"This is serious, isn't it?" Billy asked quietly.

"Very serious," Mary said. "The thing is, Billy…" Mary paused for a second. How could she do this to him? It wasn't a mother's job to shatter her son's entire world. But she was not his mother, she was Mary, and it was Mary's job to do things like this. She was one perpetual life-changing event. "Natalie is not your sister. She's your cousin." Mary waited for a second to allow the information to seep in, then continued. "Do you remember my sister Ruthie?"

"I think so. I'm not sure, though."

"Well, she came to live with us when your father and I first got married. You were barely seven then."

"Why did she come to live with us?"

Mary turned to Wilson. "Your turn."

Wilson sighed. "When Ruthie was twelve, she got pregnant. She came to live with us until she had the baby…Natalie. After she had her, she ran off with her boyfriend to Missouri and we got custody of Natalie. We hadn't heard from her since, until last night. Remember when you answered the door?" Billy nodded. "That was Ruthie."

Billy looked down at the floor. "That's a lot to swallow." After a minute, he looked up at Mary and into her eyes. "Why did you keep this from us? Why did you tell everyone, including Natalie, that she was your daughter?"

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "We didn't think that Ruthie was coming back. And the more time that passed, and the older she got, it only seemed like the right thing to do. Kids don't live with their aunt and uncle, they live with their parents."

Billy nodded. He, more than anyone, understood the value of parents and family and general. He could clearly pictures days from when he was younger that his father was just so exhausted he didn't know what to do with himself. He could never forget the joy he possessed when his father married, and would carry that with him until the day he died. Billy truly felt, despite how much he had messed up other people's lives, that he was blessed. He was blessed because of Mary and his father. Natalie was blessed, too. They were great parents Mary was a great mother. He always knew Mary didn't give birth to him, but it didn't make him love her any less. It didn't make her love him any less, either.  He could see thins from Natalie's perspective from his unique position, and even was able to get inside his parents heads. He really and truly understood.

"But now…Ruthie wants Natalie back. In Florida, if the birth parent wants their kid back they can just have them, regardless of what is better for the child or who can provide a more stable home life. Your father and I met with a social worker today and it seems pretty hopeless from our standpoint. It seems that on Friday…" Mary got too choked up to finish.

"On Friday Natalie is going to be put under Ruthie's care for good," Wilson finished.

"What?" Billy said in disbelief.

Mary started to sob. Wilson looked down at her in dismay; there wasn't much he could do anymore. He went to hug Mary in attempts to comfort her, but Billy stopped him. 

"Let me," he said. Billy reached out and wrapped his arms around Mary. "I love you Mom. And if this is what's meant to be then there isn't anything we can do to stop it. Things often have a way of working themselves out."

Mary pulled away from Billy. "You know who you remind me of?" she said to him without thinking.

"Who?"

"My older brother, Matt."

"I didn't know you had an older brother."

"Oh, yeah. He would always talk with my parents and figure things out before the rest of us kids. 

As Mary finished her stroll down memory lane and Billy went on to grant Mary and Wilson some privacy after swearing not to tell Natalie a thing they had spoken about, only one thing from the aforementioned conversation stuck out in Wilson's mind. Matt. Yet another brilliant idea sparked by Mary's negligence and kicked into high gear with a telephone call.

A/N: I am shocked at the amount of reviews I have been getting. I really feel blessed that you guys like my stuff. Thank you for everything.

Please continue to review. It makes my world go 'round.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Matt…Matt Camden?"

"Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Wilson, Wilson West."

"Wilson? Is everything OK?"

"Not really…"

***

"Hey Luce, it's Matt."

"Hi Matt, what's new?"

"Not much. I just got a very interesting phone call."

"From who?"

"Wilson. Something is going on."

***

"Wilson called Matt."

"So?"

"Simon! She is our sister."

"I know, but it's weird. We haven't spoken to her in over 10 years."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It does feel kind of weird, but a good weird."

***

"It seems that Ruthie has come back."

"She has?"

"Yeah Dad. At least, that's what Wilson told Matt. Then Matt called Lucy, then she called me, and now here we are."

"I see. So, what does Ruthie want?"

"Natalie. She's going to take her back Friday."

"And Wilson called Matt?"

"Yeah. We all think they need our help. Mary, Wilson, Ruthie, Natalie- all of them."

"I don't know if we should interfere. It's been so long."

"Since when were you one not to interfere?"

"You're right. I'll talk to the rest of them. You can count on us."

***

Eric hung up the cordless phone in his office and put it down on the desk. He sprung up from his chair and opened the door to the outside world quickly. "Annie! Boys!" he yelled out, projecting his voice up the front stairway. The three of them came running into the foyer.

"Eric, what's wrong?" Annie asked.

"Call the airline and pack our bags. We're all going to Fort Lauderdale on Friday…the first flight they have out. It's going to be a family affair."

A/N: This was a different style of chapter. I just wanted to get things moving and not draw out four phone conversations any longer than they needed to be. From what I can tell, it should be pretty easy to follow and self-explanatory. If not…Wilson called Matt. Then Matt took the information and called Lucy. Then Lucy called Simon, and then Simon called Eric who then told Annie, Sam, and David that they were going to Florida on Friday. 

Next chapter: It is finally Friday…and Mary is in for _way_ more than she bargained for. Can she keep her cool, or will she just completely fly off the wall?

Was this easy to follow? What did you think of this chapter? Please review and let me know your reaction.


	5. Chapter 5

After an excruciatingly long two days, Friday finally reared it's ugly head. So far, for today's main events, everything was going as planned. This day just so happened to be "Stephen Foster Memorial Day", a day for remembrance and reflection for the namesake of the elementary school where Natalie attended. Billy was granted permission to take the day off from school, and so other than that everything was normal. However, the day was young. They still had three hours until their lives would be changed forever. They had _plenty_ of time for things to be toyed with. 

Billy, being a sixteen year old male, usually did not rise before noon if he did not have to. However, he could not sleep that night, just like his parents. He found himself getting up in the middle of the night and walking into Natalie's bedroom to watch her sleep. He couldn't imagine that in 24 hours she would be long gone. It just did not seem possible. 

It was 9:30 in the morning when the doorbell first rang. Wilson was nowhere to be found, and Natalie and Mary were down stairs in the basement folding the laundry. Billy opened the door and was startled to see a man, a woman with extremely curly hair, both of them in their mid-thirties, and two young children at his doorstep.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Billy?" Matt said. "My gosh, aren't you just the spitting image of your father."

Billy studied the face of the man in front of him. There was something familiar of him. He reminded him of Mary for some reason. That was when it clicked. This is what his father had been up to for the past three days. "You wouldn't by any chance be Matt, would you?"

Before Matt had a chance to answer, Wilson walked into the foyer fro the kitchen. 

"Matt! Hello!" Wilson said walking to him. The two of them wrapped arms around the other and patted each other's back in a manly hug. "Did you get here OK? How was the flight?"

"The flight was fine, everything was fine. You're directions to the house were very good, by the way."

"Great," Wilson remarked. 

In the far corner of the room, the door to the basement opened. Mary walked in, holding a laundry basket full of freshly folded clothing. She saw Wilson standing near the front door and turned to him, not expecting to see her older brother standing next to her husband. She laid eyes on Matt's face and stopped dead in her tracks, dropping the laundry basket to the floor and startling the rest of the room. Mary had a tendency to freeze and drop things when she was surprised. 

Natalie, who came up the stairs behind Mary, picked up the stray t-shirt that fell out and picked up the basket. "Mom?" she asked as she handed it to Mary.

"Hi Mary," Matt said.

Mary didn't say anything; she just walked over to Wilson and Matt. "Hi," she eventually choked out.

"Well, don't just stand there," Matt said. "Give your big brother a hug."

Mary took a few steps toward Matt, and he wrapped his arms tightly around his sister. Mary was so happy at that moment, the feeling of having at least one member of her family back with her. She would never, ever, tell anyone that, but for that split second when they hugged she was overjoyed. 

Mary pulled back from Matt and immediately clung on to Wilson like she always did. "What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

Matt didn't answer her; he just looked over at Wilson.

Mary looked angrily into Wilson's eyes. "I should have figured as much." Regardless of the rage she felt, she knew that she was now the hostess. "Please, sit," she said gesturing to the couch a few feet from them. 

Matt, Sarah, and their two children did as Mary said to.

"So, who are these two rascals?"

"Kaytee and Justin. Kaytee is 6 and Justin is 4," Sarah explained. 

"And is that Natalie?" Matt asked.

Mary's eyes went wide. "Matt, don't," she said firmly.

"What?" he said, slightly taken aback.

"Just don't."

Wilson put his arm around his little girl. "Yes, this is Natalie."

Matt and Sarah both smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hi," she said meekly.

"Nat," Wilson said, "that's your Uncle Matt, your Aunt Sarah, and your cousins…" The doorbell rang and Wilson looked at his watch. "And that would be you uncle Simon."

"What?!" Mary said, unable to contain her shock, as Wilson made his way to the door. Mary followed him, trailing his heels.

"Oh, somebody is in trouble," Matt muttered.

Wilson opened the door and revealed Simon to the rest of the clan. Mary studied her baby brother. He looked worn and so old. Ten years was a lot longer than she thought it was.

"Hi Simon," Mary said as she wrapped her arms around him.

Mary also noticed something. Simon was 28 now, and there was no wife or girlfriend. Mary was married at 21, Lucy at 20, and Matt at 22. In the Camden world, he was way past his prime. 

Simon sat down on the couch next to Matt without a word.

"Did you guys eat anything?" Mary asked.

"Well, you work at jetBlue," Matt said, "What do you think?"

"I don't work for them anymore," Mary said bluntly. "I don't work at all actually. But if I had to guess, you didn't eat anything decent." Mary stood up. "We have some bagels, is that OK for everyone?" They all nodded. "Wilson, would you mind helping me?"

Wilson looked up at Mary but did not get up, not eager to be alone with her right now. He didn't think it was polite to leave their guests, either.

"Fine forget it," Mary said genuinely hurt and embarrassed.

"I'll help," Billy said getting up.

Billy and Mary walked into the kitchen together. Mary went right to the breadbasket, quickly getting to work so that she would not have time to emotionally break down.

"So, what should I do?" Billy asked sounding chipper.

Mary jumped. She forgot he had offered to help her. "Nothing, I have it all under control."

"Mom," Billy said with unwavering conviction, "let me help you."

"I don't need your help or anyone else's for that matter. I can do it all by myself."

"No you can't."

Mary closed her eyes tightly. "Well, this isn't helping me right now. None of this is, but that is besides the point."

"Do you want me to get Dad?" Billy asked, knowing that Wilson might be the only thing to help Mary at this point.

"No, he- just no." Tears welled up in Mary's eyes as she put bagels on a dish. She handed the plate to Billy, along with a big stack of napkins and a jar of cream cheese. "Bring that inside please."

"OK." Billy turned to walk out of the kitchen, but turned back to face Mary. "Are you coming?"

"In a second," she responded.

"It's all going to be OK," Billy assured her.

Mary nodded, not wanting to scare or worry her son, as tears streamed down her cheeks. She just felt so alone and so vulnerable. Mary started to bawl as the doorbell rang again. She quickly wiped her eyes and looked at her reflection in the metal toaster. She decided that she looked decent and went out to face the world. Whether she was ready for the world, though, was an entirely different story.

A/N: I didn't care for this chapter that much. I was kind of foggy on how it was all going to play out and I don't think I got my ideas across all too well. Anyway, I also wanted to say that according to some Florida public school website, Stephen Foster Elementary is a real school in Ft. Lauderdale. Stephen Foster is also a real guy, some revolutionary song writer I think. So, the school does exist, but alas Natalie and the rest of them do not.

Next chapter, the rest of the family arrives. 

I really appreciate all of your reviews. Please keep the feedback coming!


	6. Chapter 6

From the kitchen, Mary could here a bunch of voices coming from the foyer- definitely more than just one or two. Before she started whimpering like a baby, she decided to finally be adult about the situation. Taking a deep breath, Mary walked out of the kitchen and to the foyer. When she saw who had just entered her home, her mature attitude started to falter. She was scared- scared of Lucy, Kevin, Annie, Eric, the twins, and even Lucy and Kevin's children. 

When Mary started her way to her family, the room was filled with happy sounds- talking, laughter, greetings. Once Mary came out of hiding and was finally spotted, the room went deadly silent. That in itself hurt Mary more than Wilson inviting everyone over behind her back. When the silence came upon them, Mary froze. She didn't know what else she should do. Wilson, being the understanding husband that he is, walked over to Mary and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Go ahead," she whispered so only Wilson could hear her, "put your hands there. That's the most action you'll be getting from me for at least a month, maybe two."

Wilson laughed at Mary, relishing in the small dose of humor she had sent his way. Most of the time, he was able to get inside of Mary's head. He was very good at picking her apart and dissecting her emotions, almost to the point that he was feeling everything she was feeling exactly the way she was feeling it. This situation, however, was too complex for him to break down. Wilson knew his limits and decided not to even bother. The only thing that bothered him with that was that he felt so disconnected from Mary. He hated when they were out of sync. She was so predictable in his eyes, and although she still was it was not the same that day. 

The thing that was pulling them apart was fear. Fear of the future and fear of the unknown. Fear of not being able to survive this. Fear of their own lives. 

"Hello Mary," Eric said finally breaking the uncomfortable stillness.

Mary said nothing, unsure if that was out of choice or out of lack of strength. Wilson nudged her and she turned to face him. Her eyes caught his and he turned away. If he could not analyze her emotions, he would always have her body language to fall back on. He was fluent in Mary's purposefully motions and gestures. Right now, Mary was telling him that there was no way she was going to say "hi" back. 

Thirty more seconds of silence passed. "So…" Wilson said. No one said a word. "Why don't we all have a seat and maybe we can talk?"

Surprisingly, there were almost enough couches for everyone. Only Matt and Kevin were left standing next to their respective wives after everyone took their seats. Mary clutched Wilson's forearm tightly. He turned to look at her and this time he could plainly see that she was hurting.

"I can't do this," she told him, pleading with her eyes.

"Maybe not, but you're going to have to," Wilson said. "Do it for Natalie Mare." He really knew how to pull on her heartstrings. She always hated when he did that. "At least be pleasant."

Tears formed in Mary's eyes but she quickly dabbed them away. There was no way that she going to let them get the best of her. She knew that she was stronger than this, but she felt so hopeless today. Mary leaned her head on Wilson's shoulder and her ran his fingers through her hair lightly. "Pleasant," she finally said, "I can be pleasant. Just…promise you won't leave me. Stay right here and I might be OK."

"I would never leave you," he whispered. "You know that."

Mary nodded. She did "know that", but she was still having a hard time believing it. One thing she has learned from her life is that nothing is set in stone. You think things will go one way, but they make a sharp right turn toward the wrong part of town. Certainty is an illusion. It is just something we convince ourselves so that we can keep on going.

A/N: Sorry it took so long and this is so short, but schoolwork comes first. Also, I'm having a hard time getting my ideas down. This chapter is very jumbled and uses a lot of $25 words and phrases that mean nothing. I'm just busy and bored with this. Don't worry, it will get finished, just not quite sure when right now. 

**New chapter, which is not yet written at all, should be up by September 19th. That's after all of my projects are due and a Friday. That is my promise I am making to all of you. If you don't get it then, I will have a very good reason for you all and a present. **

Please review. It means so much to me.


	7. Chapter 7

The house was still very silent as everyone started to become more aware of their surroundings. One head looked up at the ceiling, and the others followed suite. Soon, everyone was swinging their heads from side to side, taking in the size and impeccable decorating of the house.

"This is a nice place you've got here Wilson," Annie finally said.

"Thank you."

"This is much bigger than we ever anticipated for Mary," Eric commented. 

"OK, I've had enough," Mary mumbled to no one in particular. In her eyes, her parents had blown their one chance they had to redeem themselves. 

Mary ran up the stairs to her bedroom, feeling empty as she left Wilson behind. Wilson glared condescendingly at Eric and Annie before going to the staircase himself.

Kevin spoke up. "Could I go?" he asked Wilson. The entire family turned to stare at him.

Wilson was taken off guard. "Sure," he responded.

Kevin waked upstairs and left the rest of the family speechless. All of them except for Wilson. 

"I don't mean to be rude," he said trying to be as diminutive as possible, "but what was the point of that comment?"

"There was no point. It was just…" Eric searched for the right words, "a fact."

Wilson sighed loudly. "Then let me ask you this. Why do you both set such low standards for Mary? What makes her different from Lucy, Matt, or Simon?"

"A lot," Annie said. "Lucy, Matt, and Simon never did the things she did."

"Every child is different," Wilson said.

"Exactly, so you have to treat every child differently," Eric reasoned.

"But shouldn't you treat every child, every single miracle, with respect and love?"

Upstairs, Kevin was fairing slightly better than Wilson was with Mary's parents.

"I don't doubt what you are saying, I just don't think it is realistic."

"Why not?" Kevin asked. "She is your sister."

"So? That still doesn't mean that Lucy misses me."

"Well, you're Lucy's sister. Do you miss her?"

Mary turned away from Kevin. "So what if I do? What difference does that make?"

"She really wants to talk to you Mary. She was so nervous and excited about coming to see you. She talked about you non-stop since Matt called and told us to come."

"Then why hasn't she said anything to me?"

"Do you mean why hasn't she apologized to you?" Mary nodded reluctantly. "They just got here- all of them. Give them a chance to prove themselves to you. You'll see they all love you."

"Just like I gave my parents a chance?" she said hurt, raising her voice slightly. "I've always tried to be nice to them, and look what I have to show for it. Same thing with Ruthie. I let her live in my house and now she is doing this to me. The only person who loves me is Wilson; so don't try to feed me any of this junk! Why do you think it took these circumstances to get everybody here?!" Hot tears rolled down Mary's cheeks as she screamed her head off at Kevin. She didn't mean to yell at him, but he was there, and he represented everything she couldn't stand. 

Before Kevin had a chance to reply, the doorbell rang downstairs. Mary put her head in her hands and cried the hardest she had in days. 

"Dear God help me," she said. 

The pressure was building. Mary walked down the stairs bawling with one of Kevin's arms wrapped around her. Wilson saw her come in and rushed over to her side. She quickly switched from Kevin to Wilson, loosing every attempt to compose herself. Billy went and stood next to his parents for support and Natalie followed him. She was completely and utterly confused by the whole situation. Sheer innocence can do that to a person. 

Ruthie smiled a fake smile at the rest of her family, and the social worker she brought alone did the same.

Matt walked over to Ruthie and looked her straight in the eyes, staring right through her mature façade. "So, explain to me why you are doing this. Why are you taking Natalie now?"

"Because I want my daughter. I gave birth to her and I have every right to raise her."

Mary held Natalie close, covering the young girl's ears, and kicked Matt hard in the shin. "Don't you dare," she said forcefully. There was no way she was going to let someone else mess this up for her. That was Mary's job.

A/N: I know, short again, but deal with it. It was going to be longer, but I made it short for a reason. I wanted to skip over some stuff and get down to the real story I want to tell- the story of Mary vs. the Camdens. Next chapter, there will be some more interaction and I want to get into developing Billy more as a character. This chapter will be up by Friday, I am promising you right now. If not you can go ahead and send me hate mail, lol.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, that was it.  Their lives were all changed once again. Some more than others, in the case of the West family, but everyone present was affected. Natalie was gone. Ruthie had taken her away to God knows where, and there was nothing they could do about it. Mary and Wilson fought to the best of their ability, but ultimately gave in. They did want to make it any harder than it had to be on Natalie. 

The thing that had Mary in awe was the way the rest of the family looked at Ruthie. They all stared at her as if they were just happy that she was alive. They last time they saw Mary was the last time they had seen Ruthie as well, but it seemed that they didn't worry about Mary. They didn't have to- they knew that she was in capable and loving hands. Ruthie, on the other hand, was not as lucky to have a Wilson to look out for her. Peter didn't even show up to take Natalie. Mary was, once again, reminded of how special Wilson was and the relationship they had with each other, although she hated the fact that her family had pointed that out to her.

Natalie left kicking and screaming. She hated everyone and no one blamed her. Her family had been lying to her for 10 years. Her mother wasn't her mother but her aunt, her father was her uncle, and her brother her cousin. Two thirds of her former "family" wasn't even blood related. The words she screamed as her mind contemplated the idea of leaving and the idea of staying shot through Mary like a dagger. She kept a stiff upper lip, though, and wouldn't let on that her niece was hurting her. Yes, her niece. That was what she was to her, wasn't it? That is who Natalie really is, Natalie Camden, **niece** to Mary and Wilson West.

After Natalie packed up her belongings and slammed the front door, the whole family sat numb. They seemed to have been knocked into a deep state of denial and depression, feelings that Mary had been dealing with since Monday. None of this was new; she had prepared. She anticipated how she was going to feel when she left, how Wilson would look at her, and how lost she would feel within her own nuclear unit. She was childless and a second wife. What was her importance in this world?

Mary stood up, startling the crowd, and looked around at the children. They all appeared to be beyond bored. "Well," she said, "we have a big pool. Why don't the kids go swimming?"

Lucy and Sarah both smiled, an instant face-lift to their dispositions. "I brought suits," Lucy said.

"Me, too," added Sarah.

"We didn't," David and Sam said simultaneously.

"You guys can borrow some of mine," Billy said morosely. He was not a happy camper. Being as though he was not a Camden, he desperately wanted to punch someone or something to get his anger out. He really needed some sort of release for all of these emotions.

Billy, Sam, and David walked upstairs and into Billy's room as Sarah, Matt, Kevin, and Lucy changed their children into their bathing suits.

Mary looked at the amount of kids that would be using the pool. Tons. More than one person should be watching all of them. Mary sighed heavily. "Lucy, want to go out and watch them with me?"

Lucy looked truly ecstatic. "Sure." 

Wilson smiled at Mary. She was taking the high road, and that was like two giant leaps in the right direction for her. He knew how hard that was for her to do, and he was never more proud of her. Wilson put his hand on her waist and lightly kissed the back of her neck. She leaned into his touch, melting into his body and never wanting to let go. He turned her around and looked into her eyes. "Want me to go out with you?"

"No, I'll be OK. You stay in here and man the fort."

He smiled at her and kissed the top of her forehead. She leaned against him and closed her eyes as everyone started to file toward the sliding glass doors. She smiled slightly and opened her eyes once again, staring into Wilson.

"I'll be out there in twenty minutes."

"That's all I ask," she said back with a smirk. 

Mary wanted to kiss him goodbye, but she figured that was enough touching for now. Mary left her husband and escorted everyone out to the pool, grabbing a stack of towels as they made their way outside. She saw everyone look at the pool and the backyard in awe. Their backyard had about the same square footage as the house did, and the pool itself was nothing to sneeze at either. With a grotto motif and spiraling slide, it was a child's dream. They all ran over and jumped right in to the nearly ninety degree water. Mary and Lucy took seats under the umbrella of the patio furniture near the pool. 

"How deep is that thing?" Lucy asked.

"Not that deep. Five and a half feet. No diving, but it's safe for all of them to jump in and out without fear of breaking their legs."

Lucy nodded and surveyed the pool. Everyone looked as if they were having a good time. "The twins seem to be getting along pretty well with Billy."

Mary looked over in their direction. "Well, they are pretty close in age and boys will strike a conversation with anyone."

Lucy giggled.

Over at the pool, Billy, Sam, and David waded around for a while, basking in the warm Florida sun. After quickly getting bored, however, they got out of the pool and dangled their feet in the water as they sat on the edge. 

"So, what year in school are you, junior?" Sam asked.

Billy nodded. "You guys go to public school, right?"

"Yup," they said together.

"Why, do you go to private?" David questioned.

"Yeah." Billy saw the shocked expressions on the boys' faces. "It's pretty common here. See, the elementary schools are good, and the middle schools are OK, but the high school is pretty bad. It's so overcrowded that there is three people to a locker and just about 40 people in every class. They merged the high school with Hollywood, and they're both decent sized cities. So most people go to private school. CrestMoore Academy."

"Do you have to wear uniforms?"

"Yeah, except on Fridays. It doesn't really bother me though, but the girls complain a lot. They tried to fight it last year, but the response the school gave was basically to deal with it or leave."

"We were almost going to have to wear uniforms," Sam said, "but we all protested during our lunch periods and they decided against it."

Billy nodded.

"So…" David said. "What are the girls like down here? Are they all beach chicks with bleached blonde hair and stuff?"

Billy laughed as he saw his father walking towards him with the cordless telephone in his hand. "It's Tori," Wilson said handing the phone to his son smiling. "She's welcome to come if she wants."

Billy nodded. "Hello?"

"Hey handsome."

Billy smiled. "Hi. Look, um, some stuff is going on so I can't really stay on the phone, but you could come over."

"Bad stuff or good stuff?" she questioned.

"A little of both I guess."

"OK. I'll leave right now. Love you."

"Love you, too," Billy said blushing and hung up the phone. He barely knew Sam and David and he just professed his love in front of them.

Sam and David smirked as Billy laughed nervously. "Someone special?" David asked.

"Yeah," he said honestly. Billy pulled his feet out of the water and grabbed a towel. "I'm…uh…going to go wait for her. You can come I guess."

The twins said OK and got out of the water as well. 

Mary watched Billy, Sam, and David walk over to the front gate and smiled to herself.

"Where are they going?" Lucy asked her sister.

"Waiting for Tori," Mary responded like it was nothing.

"And who is Tori?"

"Short answer, Billy's girlfriend. They met at school. She lives three houses down on the other side of the street; she practically lives over here."

"Doesn't she have parents?" Lucy asked, making her lack of approval apparent.

Mary shrugged off her judgment and answered the question. "That would depend on your definition. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her father because he had all the money. He's loaded to say the least. He works almost all the time, though, and when she's not over here she is usually alone. That's why we always try to invite her over. She hasn't seen her mother since she was eight so her and I talk a lot…and she's just a really nice girl. A real sweetheart,"

"Wow."

"What, shocked that there are people out there who don't lead the same life that you do?"

Lucy's eyes immediately darted to the ground, but quickly perked up when she saw a young lady enter the backyard out of the corner of her eye. Tori had dishwater blonde hair and stood modestly at five feet and five inches tall. Lucy stared straight at Tori, trying to sum her up by her looks and the very limited information Mary had given her. Mary and Lucy looked on as Billy pecked Tori on the cheek and introduce her to Sam and David, and point out everyone else who was still in the pool. Tori saw Mary sitting by the pool and immediately went over to say hello to her.

"Hi Mrs. West," she said cordially, her faint southern drawl showing slightly. 

Mary smiled as she looked at Billy. She could tell he wanted everyone to like her just as much as he did. "Hi Tori." Mary looked over to Lucy. "This is my sister, Lucy."

"Hello," Lucy said.

"Hi." Tori was all smiles, but she was nervous at the same time. Just as Billy wanted everyone to like her, Tori wanted everyone to like her as well. She knew that if her father didn't like Billy, he would have had to go, so family approval was very important to her.

Billy took Tori inside to meet and greet the rest of the family when they passed Wilson who was coming outside.

"Hey Mr. West," Tori said happily.

"Hi Tori," he said jovially. "How is everything?"

"OK. School was fine, but it would have been better if Billy were there. I missed him." Tori squeezed Billy's hand and he put his arm around her waist.

"Well, he had some family matters we needed him here for."

"I can see that. This is quite a large crowd you have here."

"You can say that again." Tori nodded. "Well, I am off to go tend to my wife. You two behave yourselves, all right?"

"Dad!" Billy said, slightly embarrassed.

Tori giggled. "We will."

Wilson made his way toward Lucy and Mary, and he could see that they were talking. That was a good sign. They didn't appear to be yelling at each other at the moment, so too much damage couldn't have been done. He approached Mary quietly, not wanting to disturb her, but to his surprise she quickly pulled Wilson aside. 

"What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said shaking her head slightly. Mary took Wilson hand in her hand and pulled it close to her heart. "It just hurts."

Wilson pulled her in tightly. Mary buried her head in his chest and sighed heavily, realizing that Lucy had to be watching them. He rubbed her back lightly and Mary pulled him in closer to him but lifted her head.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "This can't be easy for you either. I'm acting like I'm the only one this is affecting when it's really hurting all of us."

"It's OK. I'm here for you Mare; that's my job." He kissed her forehead. "I've been thinking, how about we take a shower tonight. It will give us some time to be alone together and-"

"Wash?"

"Sure, that too."

Mary smiled. "Only if you're good. Speaking of wish, I see Tori's here."

"Yeah. I told Billy he could invite her over."

"Was that the right thing to do?" she questioned.

"Why not?"

"Because, now Billy is going to have to explain to her about Natalie. Hadn't you notice he'd kind of been avoiding her for the past couple of days?"

"No," Wilson responded earnestly.

Mary shook her head. "Well, whatever happens it will be your fault."

"Thanks."

Mary laughed but quickly stopped herself. "Are you sure we can't have that shower now?"

"Later," he said after kissing her cheek. "I'll try and make it all better."

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes and Wilson wanted none of that, so he ushered Mary back over to Lucy and motioned for her to sit back down in the chair as he stood behind her. "So ladies, have we made any progress?"

"What type of progress?" Lucy asked.

"Well, did you guys make up?"

Mary elbowed Wilson in the side.

"There's your answer I guess," Lucy said. "I want to make up, but I don't think she's in the right frame of mind to do that right now. This has to be unbelievably hard on her- on you all."

"Stop," Mary warned Lucy.

"Stop what?"

"Stop treating me like I can't fend for myself. I hate it when you all do that. You treat me like everything is my fault and you feel sorry for me. I don't need your sympathy, especially not from you Lucy."

Mary stood up to run away and Wilson grabbed her forearm. She turned around, stared him square in the eye, and he let her go. Mary ran into the house, past Tori and Billy at the bottom of the staircase, and up to the bedroom. As she slammed the door, Tori turned to Billy.

"What's wrong with your mom?"

"I'm not completely sure," he answered, "but I think she's upset that we don't love her enough."

A/N: Well, first off, Tori is ALL MINE. Hands off; I know you all want her. So, what did you think of the chapter? Pretty decent length I think. About 2 times longer than the other chapters. And as for the plot line, I think I have one more chapter left in this story following this one, possibly two. After that, who knows?

Reviews warm my heart. 


	9. Chapter 9

The door to the bedroom opened and Mary looked up from her spot on the bed, thinking it was Wilson who dared to confront her. It was Lucy, however, who walked through the door and sat down on the bed next to Mary. Mary looked up at her sister, swallowed her pride, and trudged forward.

"I'm sorry. I'm acting really immature and there is no excuse for that. I just get really frustrated sometimes."

"No, it's my fault," Lucy said. "I haven't been exactly nice to you."

"You're right, you haven't, and that hurts me a lot. We used to be so close and then you just disowned me…you all did. You have no idea what that does to a person."

"Yeah, I don't. So, what can I do, or what can we all do, so that you will forgive us and everything can be OK?"

"Well, you guys can apologize, and then I will apologize to all of you, but I don't know if that will help. I kind if feel like the damage has been done." Lucy nodded. Mary saw Wilson coming into the room. "You know, let me think about it. It shouldn't be too hard to figure this all out."

"OK," Lucy said with a slight smile on her face.

She got up and left the room, passing Wilson in the doorway. Wilson stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind him, and smiled at his wife. This was the purpose of Wilson inviting them over. Wilson wanted them all to make u and be a family again, since their family was sort have torn apart that day. He also figured she would need someone to lean on, someone beside himself. He realized she needed her family, so he brought them to her. Everything just might be all right.

***

Three and a half hours later, Wilson lay on the bed and Mary did the same, only she was on top of Wilson. She was perpendicular to him, her head resting on top of his rising and falling chest. Wilson's feet dangled off the edge of the bed as his hand found Mary's face, stroking her cheek gently. Mary's eyes were closed but she was not sleeping, and neither was Wilson. Both of their minds were racing, making it virtually impossible for them to get any true rest. Wilson's fingers traced Mary's lips and she slowly opened her eyes, giving them time to adjust to the almost blinding light of the room.  Mary moved Wilson's hand to her stomach, but he decided to go a little lower. He put his hand underneath the band of Mary's pajama bottoms and stroked her lower abdomen.

"What are you doing?" Mary asked him.

"Nothing," he replied, "just thinking."

"About anything in particular?" she questioned.

"Yes and no." Wilson wriggled out from underneath Mary and sat up fully and she followed him. He looked into her eyes and smiled. 

"What now?"

Wilson kissed Mary's lips lightly. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"You know, I wasn't too sure," she said sarcastically, "but then that shower…" Mary truly smiled for the first time in over twenty-four hours and laid back down, her back leaning against Wilson's lap.

"Mare…" Wilson started cautiously, "have you ever thought about having a baby?"

Mary gulped hard. "A baby? W-with you?"

"I would hope so," he said as he put his hand gently on her arm.

"I guess I have thought about it," she said answering his question.

"And?"

"And nothing. I never let my mind wander too far."

"Why not? It's not like there would be anything wrong with it."

"I just didn't," she responded shortly.

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought that now might be a good time to bring this up."

"Well it wasn't." Mary sighed heavily and rolled over to face Wilson. He lied own next to her and Mary closed her eyes as she spoke. "Look, I don't want to get into another fight today. I'm too tired. So let me just be straight with you. I used to think about it after we were married for about a year or two, but then with Natalie I just thought it would be weird. If we had a baby it would be wrong to tell her she had a little brother or sister. I just couldn't do that. And to tell you the truth I am glad it never got to that point because it was bad enough telling Billy about this and he's all grown up."

"Which is why I brought this up now. Billy is in the middle of his junior year of high school…he's going to college in a little over a year. And I can't retire at 34, so you would just be here by yourself all day."

"What are you talking about? I am here by myself all day now. You go to work and they, he, goes to school."

"Yeah, but that's different. You know we're all coming home."

"And what makes you so sure that Billy won't stay home and go to school?"

"Because he thinks the same way I think. And we've talked about it a little, him and me. He wants to move into an apartment with Tori."

Mary's eyes bugged out of her head. "And what did you say to that?"

"I just gave him the look and told him that if that's what he really wants to do with his life then we can't stop him." The look Wilson referred to had many connotations, but was most commonly used to tell Billy not do to anything stupid.

"But-"

Wilson didn't let Mary finish. "If you want to know what I think, I say that Billy is going to propose to her right after they graduate."

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes and Wilson wiped them away for her. She grabbed his hand and brought it away from her face. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because you have to face reality and we make good parents."

"We make good parents because we can relate to our kids. We were too young for Billy, a little young for Natalie, and if we have a child we'll be too old for it now."

"No we won't. Early thirties isn't too old to have a baby."

Mary sighed once more. She could see that this was something that not only had Wilson put a lot of thought into, but he really wanted to do. "The most civil answer I can give you is that I will think about it, but I'm not promising anything. And don't expect an answer right away."

Wilson kissed Mary. "Thank you, but you know I'd much prefer if we could think about this together."

"I know, but we don't have the time right now. When they leave I guess we can discuss it." Mary's solid conviction was starting to falter as she came to the realization that Wilson would never ask her this if it wasn't in her best interest. So far, everything he said made sense, except for Billy proposing to Tori so soon. Mary leaned her head onto Wilson's shoulder. "What time is it?"

Wilson looked over to the clock on the dresser. "Almost two."

"Do you think Tori is still here?"

"There's only one way to find out," Wilson said.

Mary groaned. "OK, I'm going, I'm going."

"Mary and Wilson walked down the stairs and into the living room. All of the adults were still awake, talking quietly to themselves, as the children slept on the other couch or on the floor. Billy sat in the loveseat with Tori leaning against him, dead asleep. Billy was still awake, though, listening in on the adults' conversation for his parents. If they said anything too mean about them, it was his job to defend them. He knew they were good people, but these Camdens he did not trust.

Everyone looked up when they saw Mary and Wilson enter the room.

"What have you two been up to? We haven't seen you for hours," Matt said.

Wilson and Mary both smiled; Mary turned beet red. To divert the attention from their nighttime activities, Wilson turned to Billy. "Why don't you take her home, son?"

Billy smiled down at Tori. He always thought, if they were just a few years older, that she would never have to leave his side. He hated whenever he had to walk her home or when they had to say goodbye. Billy nudged Tori until her eyes fluttered open. She held Billy a little tighter as she woke up. Tori moaned his name and refuses to let him go.

"Come on, Tore, it's really late. I'm going to take you home."

Tori rubbed her eyes. "OK."

Billy helped her to her feet and, supporting her weight, turned to his parents. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"Ten," Wilson said, "it's late."

Billy nodded and then turned his attention back to Tori. She was half a sleep and definitely could not walk down the street. He turned and scooped up her legs and carried Tori out the front door, closing it gently behind him.

"See," Wilson said to Mary, "He's already carrying her over the threshold. I'm telling you…"

"If he comes and asks you if that's OK and you tell him yes I will be very mad at you."

"What's OK?" Simon asked.

"Nothing," Mary said quickly. "So, where do you all want to sleep? We have a queen bed in the guest room, and a couch in the den, and these couches, and I'm sure Billy wouldn't mind being kicked out of his room. And we have two air mattresses."

Matt took charge. "Mom and dad can take the guest room, Simon can sleep on the couch since he is only one person…Sarah and I can sleep on an air mattress…"

"And so can Lucy and I," Kevin said.

"Are you sure?" Wilson asked. "Billy has a full bed that you can use."

Matt looked at everyone and then looked back at Wilson. "This is fine. We feel bad that we're imposing on you like this."

Mary and Wilson spent the next half hour getting everyone situated and went up to bed themselves. Billy came home almost exactly ten minutes after he left, feeling like a real man for taking care of Tori and tucking her in at night. He always relished the rare occasions when he could do that.

In the master bedroom, Mary and Wilson got into bed once again, curling up next to each other. Mary fell asleep relatively peacefully, letting the events of the day melt away. She had only two things on her mind: Billy and babies…a very interesting combination that led to some **_very_** fascinating dreams.

A/N: Second to last chapter of this story. Next will definitely be the last, but I might continue you on with some stuff. I don't want to say anything too definite, though, because I don't know what I am doing after this. I kind of want to take a little break from fic writing. It's very stressful. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. The length was right where I wanted it to be and everything.

Reviews are yummy. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Wilson awoke Mary the next morning with kisses. As his lips greeted hers, Mary's eyes sprang open, then closed again quickly as she grabbed Wilson's cheeks and deepened the kiss. Mary pulled Wilson down to her, and he laid on the bed next to her. When they parted, Mary stared into his eyes happily.

"Good morning."

"That was some good morning."

"Yeah…well…" she said, not really saying anything at all.

"Well what? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. It almost feels like everything is right with the world, or close to it."

"And why is that?"

Mary shrugged her shoulders and rolled out of bed. Wilson rolled his eyes as the saying "it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind" rang throughout his mind.

"Well, everyone is just starting to wake up downstairs, but I don't know about your parents. I think they're still sleeping. You might want to get dressed."

"OK." Mary's grin widened from ear to ear as she bent down to kiss Wilson on the cheek.

Wilson stood up and positioned himself in front of Mary, confused. "I'm liking this new attitude of yours."

"I knew you would."

"The only thing I am curious about is how long it is going to last."

Mary sighed, her smile slightly fading. "Who knows? Just be happy that it's here now."

Wilson kissed Mary's lips. "You don't hear me complaining." Wilson's hands rubbed Mary's cheeks. "I'm going to go check on Billy."

Mary nodded and Wilson walked out the door and down the hall to Billy's room. He knocked on the door and walked inside, instantly going over and sitting down on the bed next to Billy.

"So…" Wilson said trying to sound as youthful as possible. "What's up?"

"Are there ever things that you don't want to share with Mom? Things you think she just won't understand? Thing you don't want to have to explain to her?"

"Well, not so much now, because we live out lives together rather than separately, but before there was. When I first met Mary, I was so scared to tell her about you. I was petrified actually. She was only 15 and I was 17, and when we met at the park I just told her you were my baby brother. And she believed that for about a day, right through our first date and everything. But then when push came to shove, even though our relationship was new, I knew that I had to come clean. I really liked her and it felt wrong to lie to her. So I met her at church the next day, and I told her. I didn't tell her everything right then and there, but eventually I did. Then she got hit by a car and- and I'm getting off track." Billy looked up to his father for guidance. "What don't you want to tell Tori?"

Billy's shoulders slumped.  "Everything. I mean, I haven't really being lying to her, I just haven't told her some things about myself and our family. I'm not embarrassed or anything, it's just really personal. I never told anyone any of that stuff, ever."

"What stuff?" Wilson said, knowing fully well what Billy was alluding to, but forcing his son to say the words aloud. It would help him later if he could say them now. 

"Well, she asked yesterday about Natalie, where she was and stuff, and why everyone was here all of the sudden. I have no problem telling her about that, but it kind of goes hand in hand with everything else. Me, you, Mary…my real mom. I don't want to talk about that stuff. I'd much rather just let things be."

"That's a tough thing to deal with. What I think, though, is that you'll feel better after you tell her. But if you really feel like you can't tell her, you really and truly feel like you can't, then you might want to take a good look at your relationship. If you want it to go anywhere, she's going to have to find out about all of this stuff." Billy nodded heavily and Wilson patted him on the back. "And while you're doing that, get dressed. Everyone's waking up and your boxers is not proper 'morning with the Camdens' attire."

Wilson walked out of Billy's bedroom and back into his room. He found Mary in the bathroom in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth. Mary spat minty foam into the sink and then turned to face Wilson.

"So, what is wrong with Billy?"

"Oh, it's nothing. He doesn't want to tell Tori about his past…my past…our past."

"What about our past, exactly, is he going to tell her?"

"About how you are not his real mother," Wilson said apprehensively.

Mary looked down at her feet. "Oh."

Wilson put his hands on Mary's hips. "Come on honey, smile. You were doing so good."

Mary hugged Wilson tightly and leaned her head against his shoulder. He rubbed her back slightly, then the back of her head. His lips gently touched the top of her head and Mary's smile returned. She squeezed him once more tightly, drawing strength from him, and then let go. 

"Have you been downstairs?" she asked.

Wilson shook his head. "I was waiting for you."

"Good," she said," let's go."

Mary and Wilson walked out the door and Wilson pulled Mary toward the staircase. Mary tugged at Wilson's hand. 

"Come with me?" she asked.

Wilson nodded. He knew where she wanted to go. The two of them went down the hallway, at the other end of hall from Billy's bedroom and next to the guest room, and stood in the doorway of Natalie's bedroom. They looked in at her belongings that she left behind, her open closet with most of her cloths inside, her stuffed animals, her books, and her homework on the desk. Mary looked on with sadness, as did Wilson, but she did not allow herself to break down. Not today. Today was going to be a happy day, a day of a new beginning and the start of a new chapter in her life, if everything went well. She had her doubts, but in her heart she hoped that this room would be filled someday soon…maybe in the next year.

Wilson held Mary tightly, and for the first time, Mary acknowledged his needs. She held Wilson back, squeezing happiness back into his body to replace the sorrow that her touch forced out of him. Just because he was the husband didn't entitle him to anything different than she was entitled to, and didn't immune him from feeling the same things that she was feeling about the departure of their "daughter". Wilson realized that she finally comprehended the fact that sometimes in a marriage you had to forsake yourself to help your partner, and the rush he got from that overjoyed him. He wanted to pick Mary up and spin her around, and just might have done it if it weren't for Annie and Eric coming out of the bedroom next to them. 

Annie and Eric stared at Mary, not having a clue what they should say to her. Part of them wanted to console her, but the rest of them wanted to yell at her. They always had the urge to reprimand her, mostly because she was so different from the two of them and the way that they handle things. Annie and Eric both figured that if they had taken Natalie, she would never have gotten taken back. They were good people and would have been looked out for because they were superior; Ruthie would have never had a fighting chance. Morally, they felt they were leaps and bounds ahead of where Mary, and even where Wilson, would ever be. They always would feel better than Mary.

All of that aside, she was their young. People have a natural born instinct to protect their offspring, whether it be from some sort of predator or an emotional breakdown. Inside, they were too conflicted to tell their outsides to do anything but stare. 

"Good morning," Wilson said after a few moments, for the first time feeling what Mary had felt for years. Just like she now had a new understanding of him, he now understood where she was coming from, and where she was coming from was a place where there was not enough love to go around for everyone. Someone had to get shafted along the way, and Mary had apparently almost always gotten the short end of the stick.

"Good morning," Eric said back as he realized that Wilson could see right through him. He wanted to run away, feeling weak and powerless under Wilson's gaze, but didn't have enough strength to go anywhere. 

Mary exhaled sharply, sounding as if she was trying to make herself cry. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I'm doing the same thing to you as I think you keep doing to me. I'm faulting you both for not acting the way I want you to act. We are all our own person and if we don't respect that we can't get through life. We all make mistakes, whether we think we never make mistakes or think that we make them all the time. I forgive you for whatever it was that made me feel like I hate you so much and I hope that you can accept my apology, because it comes from the bottom of my heart. I want you to accept it, and let me back into the family, and like me again, but you don't have to do any of that. I just had to say this out loud, regardless of what you think of me, because I can't keep beating myself up for all of this. Faulting both of you or myself isn't getting anyone anywhere except down the long and windy path to the loony bin. "

 Eric and Anne said nothing, shocked by their daughter's words. Obviously they were wrong. She was leaps and bounds beyond where _they_ will ever be. 

"I'm sorry," Mary said again, unsure if they had heard her or not.

Eric looked at Annie and she nodded. "We accept."

Mary and Wilson both waited a few seconds for them to apologize as well, but they weren't going to get that from them. Maybe one day they would, but today they weren't going to change. Reciprocated apology or not, Mary had let go. She had stopped being consciously angry with them and tried to accept them for who they are. Her parents. People. Humans. No better or worse off than she was at any given moment. Mary extended her arms and encompassed her parents in her tight embrace, praying that they would hug her back. Annie's arms wrapped around Mary loosely, not even sure if that was what she should be doing.

Mary waited a few seconds and then pulled back from her parents. Inside, she was crushed but fulfilled. This was something she had wanted to do for years, even more than telling her parents off, and she actually had done it. That felt so good. Mary stepped back toward Wilson, grabbing his hand and smiling at him. The two of them walked down the stairs; Eric and Annie followed them.

In the living room, everyone seemed to have convened. Matt, Sarah, Kevin, Lucy, Simon, and all of the children were all in the room. Mary heard Billy come down the stairs, too, and come and stand behind her. She turned around and hugged her son, the little boy she helped raise into a respectable young man for the past 10 plus years. 

"Good morning," she said cheerfully to Billy.

"Good morning," he said back.

Mary turned to the rest of her family, looking each one of them in the eye as she planned her approach. The road to salvation was most definitely a bumpy one, but Mary never did take the beaten path. After silently debating with herself, bluntness seemed like the most effective way to go. 

"Look, everyone, I just want to say that I am sorry. I'm sorry that I lost contact with all of you for ten years. That was ten years too long to go without talking to my brothers and sister, without seeing my nieces and nephews, and without being part of this unique and amazing family. I kind of had to loose myself to find myself…again…and I hope that you all can forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt any of you intentionally, I just didn't' know how to cope. But I have decided to just forget it all and move on, if you all will let me." Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "What do you say?"

No one said anything, but their response was clear when they all rushed Mary. Matt hugged her first, then Simon, Sarah, Sam, David, Kevin, and last but not least Lucy. Mary squeezed Lucy hard. 

"I've missed you so much Luce. I missed having my sister."

Tears fell from Lucy's eyes. "I did, too."

Mary and Lucy pulled away and they all stood next to each other, looking around the room and feeling the love that was radiating from everyone. Mary removed herself from the happiness and grabbed Wilson by the hand. She pulled him over to the corner of the room.

"OK."

Wilson looked at her confused. "What?"

"OK, yes, whatever."

"OK, yes what?"

"Remember what you asked me last night?" Wilson nodded, a slight smile growing on his face. "Well…OK."

Wilson could not contain his excitement. He lifted Mary off the ground, just like he wanted to do before, and gently pressed his lips to hers, slipping his tongue inside her mouth. Eventually, he put her down and grinned.

Mary smiled as well. "So…later…can we…?"

Wilson pecked her cheek. "Of course we can."

Mary and Wilson turned back to the group when the phone rang. 

"I'll get it!" Billy said, instantly thinking that it was Tori on the line. He ran over to the phone in the kitchen, but to his dismay found some other woman on the other end. "Mom, it's for you," he said once he came back into the room.

Mary took the phone and walked into the kitchen to have some peace and quiet. "Hello?"

"Mary? It's Ruthie."

"Ruthie? Hi. How is everything?"

"A lot harder than I expected actually. I never knew it would be this difficult, in less than 24 hours, to be the sole protector over a child. But I am going to try and live up to the high expectation you have instilled din my daughter. I just called to say thank you for the past 10 years. I owe you more than I will ever have in my entire lifetime. What you did was above and beyond the sisterly call of duty and I don't think I can ever thank you enough."

"Well, you're welcome. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to raise her for 10 years."

Ruthie laughed. "And I also wanted to apologize for running away, and being so fickle, and everything. I wasn't exactly a model prisoner."

"You were a teenager. What do you expect?"

Again, Ruthie laughed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, if what you are looking for is my forgiveness, than you have it, although you don't think you need it."

"Thank you," Ruthie said quietly.

"No thanks necessary. I love you Ruthie."

"I love you, too. Could I talk to Wilson?"

"Sure," Mary said. Mary went and got Wilson and handed him the telephone.

"Hi Ruthie," he said.

"Hey. Look, I just wanted to apologize for everything. Natalie is an amazing person and I owe that all to you. It's going to be really hard to raise her, but I am going to try my best and hopefully I'll do half a good of a job as you and Mary did."

"And sure you'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Ruthie questioned.

"I remember when you first had Natalie, when I first saw you…the look on your face. You will make a great mother, all you have to do is apply yourself."

"Thanks Wilson. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Bye," Ruthie said.

"Wait, Ruthie," Wilson said quickly.

"Yes?"

"There is no sense in waiting 10 more years to here from you. Let me have your address and phone number." Ruthie gave him the information and Wilson recorded it on a sticky-note. "Ok, now you can go."

Ruthie giggled. "All right. Tell everyone I love them."

"I will. Bye."

Wilson put the phone down and then walked into the living room. The doorbell rang and Mary answered it. Tori walked inside and Billy greeted her with a kiss. 

"Dad…can I…" Billy said.

"Go ahead," Wilson said, knowing that Billy wanted to talk with Tori in private. _Good for him_, he thought. 

Wilson surveyed the room. The entire family was all smiles, and he really didn't know the cause behind it all. He walked over to Mary and put is hand on the small of her back.

"So, let me ask you, what was the inspiration to this whole morning? Because I know something must have happened for you to change your mind like this."

"I had this dream," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I was pregnant- we were pregnant, and I was having the baby. My whole family was there, everyone, and they were so happy for us and they all, they all just loved me. And we were happier than I have ever seen us. I want to have that. I want a baby with you, and I want to be happy. I want both of us to experience that sheer joy that we had in my dream, and we weren't going to get that unless I fixed everything. So I fixed it and now everything will be OK. No more negativity from me."

Wilson kissed Mary and when they parted, Mary leaned her head onto Wilson's chest. "I love you," he said quietly, "and I would love you no matter if you 'fixed everything' or not, but I'm really happy you made everything all right."

"Me too. It feels so good," Mary smiled, "almost as good as it feels to have you hold me."

Wilson laughed. They surely had come a long way from when they were just newlyweds to now, but their love was still the same- undying and beautiful. Now matter how good or how bad things got, that was the one thing that always remained the same, their love and devotion to one another.

**The End**

A/N: So, what did you think? I liked this chapter up until the end. It was tied up very neatly, the story. Oh well, I am not redoing it now. It's waaay too late. As for what I am doing next, I don't know. Either some sort of a continuation of this, something with Mary/Carlos, or nothing at all. Taking a break sounds pretty good right about now. But at any rate, keep a look out for stuff from me. My break won't be for very long if I do take one. If not, see you later this week!

Review this chapter, the whole thing, whatever! Just **_please_** let me know if you liked it and what I could improve on. It means so much when you take the time to comment on my work. 


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